FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT GRAND MARQUIS - PAGE 5

Exports up: Ford Motor Co. said its exports of North American-built cars and trucks rose 33 percent in the first six months of the year, to reach 22,892 vehicles. Ford said the largest increase in overseas shipments was to the Middle East, where the company shipped 8,493 vehicles, up from 5,303 a year earlier. The jump was credited to the Mercury Grand Marquis and Ford Crown Victoria.

An 81-year-old resident was killed in a car crash Saturday in Lemont. Samuel Ratay died in Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove following the 7 p.m. accident, according to the DuPage County coroner's office. Ratay was driving east on Cass Street in a Ford Tempo when police said he pulled in front of a 1990 Mercury Grand Marquis heading north on State Street.

A glitch in small-car sales that caused Ford Motor Co. concern over meeting federal fuel economy regulations has prompted conversion of the big Ford Crown Victoria and Mercury Grand Marquis to 1991 models May 31, four months ahead of schedule. Though fuel economy motivated the hasty model year switch, Ford also is using the occasion to boost prices early-by more than $350 per car-though the `91s get only minor cosmetic change. By switching to `91 designations, the fuel-economy of the full-size, V-8- powered Crown Vic and Grand Marquis will be counted toward Ford's 1991 corporate average fuel economy, or CAFE, standards and not 1990's.

The Mercury Grand Marquis was in danger of being called the Mercury Grand Methuselah. Unlike the fashion industry, where change comes with every season, the auto industry trots out new finery only every three to six years. The Grand Marquis has been an exception to the rule and has remained virtually the same since 1979. The long-awaited remake has taken place. The Grand Marquis is now a fashionably decked-out rounded cylinder that shares the same aerodynamic styling heritage as the Mercury Sable, Cougar and even the Continental.

- Ford has recalled about 98,000 2005 Ford Crown Victoria, Lincoln Town Car and Mercury Grand Marquis sedans over concerns that a battery cable was rubbing against the vehicle frame, potentially causing fires. - Ford has recalled more than 123,000 2005 Ford Freestyle crossovers and Ford Five Hundred and Mercury Montego sedans to replace a tank strap that could separate after miles of driving, causing the fuel tank to drop. ---------- Transportation in brief is compiled from the notebooks of Jim Mateja and Rick Popely, and from Tribune news services.

By Transportation in brief is compiled from the notebooks of Jim Mateja and Rick Popely, and from Tribune news services | February 1, 2004

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has opened a new investigation of the Ford Crown Victoria, centering on the vehicle's rear axle design. The latest probe also covers Mercury Grand Marquis and Lincoln Town Car sedans. A total of 287,819 vehicles from the 2003 model year are involved, including civilian models and the Crown Victoria Police Interceptor. In the last two years, the sedan has been the subject of numerous lawsuits and safety complaints from police departments.

New "home": Ford Motor Co. said Wednesday it will reclassify its Crown Victoria and Mercury Grand Marquis sedans from imports to domestic by shifting production of the cars' rear axles from Mexico to suburban Detroit. Counting them as domestics instead of imports will help Ford meet federal fuel-efficiency requirements. The two models are among the company's least fuel-efficient, with V-8 engines that average 18 m.p.g. in the city and 25 m.p.g. on the highway.

A while longer: Ford Motor Co. said it extended cash rebates ranging between $200 and $2,000 on selected 1993 model cars and trucks and will continue some of the incentives through Jan. 10, 1994. The nation's No. 2 carmaker said the old incentive program was due to expire Wednesday. Most rebates were kept unchanged, but Ford lowered rebates on standard Crown Victoria and Grand Marquis models to $1,000 from $1,500. Ford recently announced a one-price special value program for the cars.

- A photo layout in the Sunday Transportation section incorrectly identified electric and other alternative-fuel vehicles as being part of the "Clean Across America with Natural Gas" tour that recently visited Chicago. The nationwide tour comprised only natural gas vehicles. The others joined the tour vehicles in Chicago as part of the Clean Cities campaign. - In the rebate table in the same section, information supplied by Comsumers' Checkbook listed a $1,000 consumer rebate or discount financing on the 1993 Mercury Grand Marquis.

Police were investigating the reported theft of a car outside a service station over the weekend. The owner of the black 1984 Mercury Grand Marquis told police he had parked the car with the keys on the front seat shortly after 5:15 a.m. Saturday outside Bennett's Marathon Oil Station, 901 Sheridan Rd., where he worked, reports said. The car was gone when the vehicle's owner checked at 8 a.m. A witness told police he saw the car being driven by an unknown driver northbound on Sheridan Road shortly before the owner noticed it missing, according to police reports.